


Meeting His mother.

by WritingInRetro



Series: The In-laws [1]
Category: Ghostbusters (Movies 1984-1989), Ghostbusters - All Media Types
Genre: Egon can sing?, Egon's ears turn red, Egon's mom makes an appearance (obviously), Egon's mom wont tell a soul, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Janine is nervous?, Janine's psychic senses are tingling off the hook, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-12
Updated: 2019-09-12
Packaged: 2020-10-17 00:40:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20612054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WritingInRetro/pseuds/WritingInRetro
Summary: "I know it may be quite a challenge to be frank with your new, future mother-in-law, but please do." Janine is going to meet Egon's mother for the first time the first time. Saying that she's just slightly nervous is a definite understatement.





	Meeting His mother.

A/N: This is going to be the longest author’s note ever written in the history of author’s notes, but please do not let that refrain you from reading the actual story. It’ll be worth it I promise! But ok, this story has been sitting on the shelve forever, and with today being the worst day I’ve had in a long time, I’ve decided give myself a cheer up and to dust this one off, add the finishing touches and just post it. Writing fanfiction really calms me and makes me forget about my worries which is nice. So I’m just here relaxin’, sippin’ ma chamomile lavender tea and doin’ a li’l bit of writing.

Ok, I’ll start off with a little backstory/info of some sorts. I think most of the fandom agrees on the notion that Egon’s father is a cold academic driven father who showed little to no emotion to his son only in praise for his academic accomplishments. Do what you want with that. I imagined Egon’s mother to be someone who was in a way living by/being controlled by her late husband’s convictions but has since his death managed to find her own and become a very progressive woman in her prime. Not some, no offense, stuffy “everything was better in the olden days!” type person (If I explained that right…). I also believe that she, upon meeting Janine for the first time when visiting the firehouse, would’ve later given Egon a playful nudge while saying something along the lines of “Oh she’s cute! Maybe you should ask her out sometime?” referring to Janine.

I’m very new to this fandom so please excuse me for any mistakes regarding my Ghostbuster knowledge. Also excuse me for any grammar or spelling mistakes I might might make because I’m dutch so English isn’t my native tongue. I do feel that I’m kinda off with the tenses sometimes but maybe that’s just me I don’t know. I thought this would be a cute one shot to start out with. Might do one for Egon meeting Janine’s parents as well.

Btw I’m a total noob when it comes to posting on archive of our own. I only posted on Fanfiction.net before but since the gb fandom seems larger here I thought I’d give this a shot as well.

Oh and by the way, my Egon and Janine will always be portrayed by the lovely Harold Ramis (RIP) and Annie Potts. I’ve tried watching The Real Ghostbusters but I couldn’t quite get into that to be honest… Did take bits and pieces from it for a little reference, but I made Egon and Janine be roughly be the same ages as the actors who played them and not below 30 like the cartoon version. I would love to read the IDW comics but they are extremely hard to come by in Europe soooo... but from what little research I did it seems that Janine has a boyfriend named Roger…? Excuse me?! Roger?! Nope. Ain’t cool with that.

Oh the timeline I’d say would be about 4 months after Ghostbusters 1. So we can just forget the whole Louis tully situation ever happened. No, but I think that maybe a couple of weeks after the whole gozer sittuation, Egon finally had the guts to ask her out, or something like that. (Might do a one-shot about that as well, wow I’m feeling very adventurous all the sudden!)

But anyway let’s get reading… Geez I always make these A/N’s too long!

**Summary: **Janine is going to meet Egon’s mother as his girlfriend for the first time. Saying that she’s just slightly nervous is a definite understatement.

**Pairing(s): **Janine/Egon

**Timeframe: **4 months after Gozer.

**Word count: **3074

**Warnings: **vaguely mentions sexual activity but nothing explicit is being described.

* * *

“What if she doesn’t like me?” Janine said while stepping out of the cab and onto the sidewalk “I _bet _she doesn’t like me! You know I’m very psychic, and I can sense when something bad is about to happen, and right now my senses are tingling off the hook!” She threw her hands up in frustration.

He didn’t say anything. He just gave her a look that roughly translated into something of a mix between “Please don’t start this again” and “How many times do I need to tell you that you’re going to be just fine?”

“alright, alright…” She replied to his silent answer “I’m just nervous… I’ve never been this nervous before and it’s freaking me out!” She threw her hands up in frustration.

Janine had met Mrs. Spengler when she visited the firehouse once or twice, but that was just a polite exchange of names and how do you do’s between secretary and mother of the resident genius, after which Janine went back to work and Mrs. Spengler waited for Egon to take her to either lunch or dinner. This however, was something different. Now she was having dinner with Mrs. Spengler, not as her son’s secretary but as his girlfriend. They had been dating for about a little over 3 months and his mother found it high time that they be properly introduced.

Egon stopped as they reached the front steps of his childhood home. It’s been a while since he’d stood on this very spot. Mostly because the Ghostbuster’s business was through the roof, and he’d barely had any time to visit his mother in the last couple of months, but maybe even more so because this house somewhat represented a closed era, a finished chapter of his life. Egon didn’t quite grasp the concept of revisiting chapters, Janine had come to learn. It was like he’d created his own Muon trap to catch all his bad memories, like he was doing some kind of a ghost hunting marathon. He did share the occasional story of his father not being home and his mother putting on Frank Sinatra records while swaying through the kitchen, letting her son take a short break from the endless studying. Things like that, but nothing really going beyond the surface. At least not about his past. He did speak very loving about his mother in present life, which Janine found to be quite adorable. Before Janine had dated more rough types who usually backed away at the mention of meeting the parents, after confessing that they thought this was more of a temporary thing, a no strings attached kind of deal, or they just flatly stated that Janine was just a rebound. _Yes, that last one happens more than you’d think._ No, she didn’t have much luck in relationships before, and that’s putting it mildly.

“I love you, you know” Janine said softly. She felt like she had to say it. That no matter what would happen tonight, it wouldn’t affect the way she felt about him. _God!_ She made it sound like they were being sent out into a dangerous warzone! She walked one step up the front walkup to bring down their height difference a little before moving her hands up to straighten his tie. Satisfied with her task she snaked her arms around his neck and moved her hands to softly play with his hair, which gave Egon’s ears a rosy hue about them. Janine was more comfortable in showing her affection in public than he was. He therefore quickly scanned the neighborhood for any sign of other living species, but quickly turned his attention back to Janine upon finding the street to be seemingly empty.

“I l-love you too” He replied, though barely audible, still well received as it earned him a bright smile. Even though he found it quite difficult to admit to such personal feelings Egon was, _surprisingly_, the first one who had said the L-word in their relationship. Well, he more or less just blurted it out around two weeks ago, drunk by the afterglow of lovemaking. Intercourse or sexual relations were Egon’s preferred term of choice, or if he was feeling really adventurous coitus could be heard used by him to describe it. Both had only said it- the L-word- once since then, on that same night only a few hours later after multiple apologies from Egon regarding his _way too emotional approach. *_

“You look quite the handsome fella tonight. Really loving the suit.” Instead of his usual grey vest and lab coat, he sported a crisp white shirt neatly tucked into a pair of navy blue trousers with a matching blue jacket, his tie adding a touch of maroon to his outfit. On top of it he wore his basic woolen grey coat.

“Maybe that’s because you picked it?” He replied an amused grin appearing on his lips.

“That must be it!” She laughed

“Navy blue really suits you.” She tried to find topics of conversation to stall them entering for just a bit longer.

“You know, most guys can’t do navy blue, they can do black, maroon, or even kaki, but that specific shade of blue just doesn’t suit them for some odd reason. It’s weird isn’t it? How some people just can’t do certain colors? Must be the undertones of their skin or something.” She added

“Janine?” Egon softly said her name in order stop Janine’s unnecessary nervous train of thought.

“Hmm?” She swallowed hard. The moment of truth had arrived.

“Contrary to what you might think, she won’t bite” He moved one of his hands to cup her face his thumb softly caressing her cheek.

“The only thing she could be upset about would be that I didn’t bring you to meet her sooner, she really has talked of little else since I told her about us.” Janine felt a shiver down her spine when he referred to them by using the term “_us_”. _That does sound really good._

“I don’t know why I’m acting so silly…” She let out a big sigh before resting her head against his chest. “I just want this to go well…” She mumbled into his coat.

“which it will.” He said before giving her lips a quick reassuring peck. “I promise.” Their lips touched in a soft, yet not less meaningful kiss.

* * *

Mrs. Spengler had heard a car stop in front of her house and couldn’t help but sneak a little peek through her front window. She had of course seen Janine a few times, before they started dating, while visiting her son, but she couldn’t help being curious. What she saw just warmed her heart instantly. There they stood, wrapped in each others arms in what seemed like soft conversation. They touched their heads together giving each other one last reassuring, comforting look. When the couple moved in for a kiss Mrs. Spengler made her cue to leave the window and do one last check on her oven.

However, even after that adorable moment she witnessed, meeting her son’s new girlfriend didn’t go quite as well as she’d hoped. Upon entering she became very nervous and she seemed rather tense the entire course of the meal and not at all like the vibrant person her son had described her to be in one of those very rare moments he’d allowed her a glimpse into his personal life; being the private person that he is. Nor like the person she witnessed during the short display of affection between her and Egon on the front steps of her home.

“Egon, be a dear and make us some coffee will you?” It was time to take matters into her own hands and have a little chat.

“If you ladies would please excuse me” He politely excused himself.

As Egon got up from his chair Janine quickly shot him a panicked look. In reply he gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. That little affectionate touch did basically nothing for Janine’s nerves and her shoulders clumped back together like she was trying to hold a coin piece between her shoulder blades. Not daring to look Mrs. Spengler in the eye she decided to focus on her hands folding her napkin into neat triangles. Janine was never really known to be a shy person, but now on first glance one would name shy as one of her most prominent character traits.

“Janine?” Mrs. Spengler asked carefully. The question only registered with Janine a few seconds later.

“Y-Yes…?” She quickly replied when she noticed she still hadn’t.

“Please tell me you haven’t forgotten how to breathe!” Mrs. Spengler let out a heartfelt laugh.

Upon hearing that she let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. Her posture became slightly more relaxed but not enough to let her guard down completely.

“I know it may be quite a challenge to be frank with your new, _future mother-in-law_, but please do.”

Janine gave her a questioning look, either because she didn’t understand the request or because she wasn’t sure if she wasn’t just imagining the term mother-in-law being used just now.

“I can sense something’s bothering you, I have a gift for that sort of thing… You _know my husband_ never believed in the paranormal and psychic activities-“ At the mention of Egon’s father Janine’s shoulders tensed up again.

“Ah I see…” She she pondered about how to put the subject of her late husband delicately. After a few moments she settled on a question rather than a remark “What exactly has Egon told you about his father?”

“Well, not much really, I had to ask around a bit.” She looked down at her hands.

Egon had mentioned his father maybe once or twice but he didn’t like to dwell on it too much and Janine decided not to push him. Of course her curious mind got the better of her and she decided to ask Ray and Peter if they knew anything about him. So, little by little she figured out that Egon’s father, if he could even be called that, wasn’t much of a father. He was more like one of those teachers that pushed you to be at the best of your abilities all the time but in an extremely bad way. She also figured that she could never measure up to his or his son’s intellect to be approved as his son’s girlfriend. She wanted to find a way to put it nicely but instead she went on auto pilot and blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

“I just know that he was quite the famous scientific genius himself, and that he would hardly approve of a frumpy secretary like me for his son’s girlfriend, and that if you’re anything like your husband, you would hardly approve of me yourself,” she said in one big breath barely audible, before quickly continuing.

“but I love Egon very much, more than I’ve ever loved anybody before in my whole life, and I think love is more important than any academic achievements or doctorate of any kind!” The thing that made her feel most insecure was their difference in education. Egon had a doctorate, while Janine she only attended a local community college. Even though he had reassured her that it shouldn’t matter, it didn’t stop from some people from viewing their relationship as unconventional. Since the Ghostbusters gained a following in the public eye, complete strangers just liked to randomly point that out. _Probably just for the sheer fun of it_. He’d said once in an attempt sheer her up with one of his sarcastic remarks.

A pleased grin appeared on Katherine Spengler’s face as Janine finally seemed to grow more confident and show the feisty vibrant woman Katherine hoped, or rather excepted to meet tonight.

“My dear, do I look like I’d act or feel anything like my husband?” Mrs. Spengler with an amused chuckle.

For a moment Janine studied the person in front of her. Her face was framed by- minus a few leftover strands of brown- grey colored curls, reaching well below the shoulders. For clothing she opted for a colorful printed dress in a wide flow-y fit. Not quite the look she’d pictured for a scientist’s wife. Then again, maybe that was the problem. She didn’t find herself to fit the bill of a scientist’s girlfriend let alone wife. For years she’d shamelessly chased the man into insanity, and now that he actually returned her advances she almost at times felt extremely unworthy of such affection.

“I guess not…” Janine slowly said after a while.

“Janine, the only thing a mother cares about is their child’s happiness, and I can tell you make my son very happy.” She replied giving her a loving smile.

“Well, I try to…” She said softly.

“And your doing quite a good job at it.” She pointed towards the kitchen where her son was softly humming a tune. _Fly me to the moon_. It was slightly off key but still not entirely awful. Janine’s cheeks turned slightly pink at the compliment.

“contrary to my husband I really don’t give a flying donkey about what school you did or didn’t go to. You know, I was only a mere Librarian when I met Egon’s father; which reminds me, I have a couple of books I think you’d really enjoy.” Egon had told his mother that Janine was quite an avid reader. When Janine had confessed that to him he expected her to read those below 200 pages erotic romance novels with the shirtless doctors on the front cover, but upon _going for dessert_\- as Janine suggestively put it- at her apartment after one of their dates he actually noticed she was quite a collector and she had quite a well arranged, interesting collection with even what seemed to be some very rare early publishing’s; for the split second he had to swiftly scan over her bookcase that is. Not that she didn’t enjoy a good steamy doctor and nurse romance every so often…

“I think we might be able to do a little trade of some sorts. Egon tells me you quite enjoy the occasional Jane Austin Novel.” Over topic of books the two really were able to connect and it seemed to make Janine calm down a little more.

“I haven’t seen him this happy in a long time…” She said in an almost wistful tone, steering the conversation back to her son. It saddened her that his happiest moments before this would have been when he was a baby not a care in the world, yet to learn the hardships that life would throw his way.

“I mean, he has always been content in a way, but never truly happy.” For a moment it looked like she was about to let her emotions get the better of her but then she quickly added: “I think even a breakthrough in one of his science experiments ever made him as happy as you do.”

“Mrs. Spengler I-“ She sensed a hint guilt in the last two remarks about her son, which held some sort of truth. She always thought she could have done more to give him a proper childhood, but was torn between the loyalty she owed her husband and her- greatly overshadowed by her husband’s- convictions.

“Oh, enough with these stuffy names, call me Katherine!” She quickly interrupted with a quick wave of her hand as if to brush off any previous thoughts.

“A-alright… err… Katherine…” She took a few moments adjusting to the name change. “Even though he doesn’t show it very often, he really admires you a great deal.” She saw Mrs. Spengler’s features soften, as her lips curled up into a tiny hint of a smile.

“Once we grew closer I was surprised to find that he’s actually quite a passionate person, _in his own way._” She lovingly sighed, looking back into Egon’s direction.

“Oh, certainly. But don’t let Ray or Peter hear it, or his reputation will be ruined!” Mrs. Spengler joked.

“He’s also very handy, I can tell…” She pointed towards Egon, who had part of the coffeemaker in one hand, screwdriver in the other.

“Sorry for the delay, the coffeemaker is having a small malfunction.” Egon called from the kitchen while putting the remaining screws and bolts back in its original place.

Both women let out a soft chuckle. _Some things just never change._

“Janine, you really don’t need to prove anything to me, dear.” Mrs. Spengler said steering the conversation back to a more serious note.

“I don’t?” she asked slightly confused.

“A look between lovers says far more than any old string of words, and though I find the way you stand up for your relationship with my son quite admirable, the way you looked at him while standing on my front steps earlier this evening tells me so much more.” Janine’s cheeks turned a light shade of pink trying to figure out how much of that scene she’d actually witnessed.

“Oh, don’t worry, I wont tell a soul.” She gave Janine a playful wink 

“Never feel the need to prove your love for Egon to _anybody_” Janine now got the feeling that this was more about the people scrutinizing their relationship now that Egon has gained more notoriety in the public eye, than that it had anything to do with the conversation the two women were having before.

She let out sight before letting a soft and humble thank you escape her mouth.

_Your welcome. _Katherine Spengler mouthed just as Egon reentered the dining room, steadily holding on to a tray of delicate china.

“Were you discussing any important matters without me?” He asked still carefully balancing the tray in his hands.

“Oh nothing important really…” Katherine said casually

“I was just telling Janine how handsome those grandchildren of mine are going to be.” She added with a sly grin, upon which both Janine and Egon’s faces turned a bright shade of red and the coffee tray managed to just barely land onto the dining room table without shattering to pieces. After the initial shock both shot each other a quick glance; both still blushing furiously, but their lips now showing a small hint of a smile.

_They are going to be just fine… _Katherine Spengler concluded, crossing her arms over her chest thoroughly content.

* * *

Thanks for reading this! Please leave a review. Even if you have any tips or pointers, I’m always curious to learn more and approve my writing. Oh, and let me know if you’d like a one shot about Egon meeting Janine’s parents/family as well? I feel a family member’s Bar Mitzvah/Bat Mitzvah coming on…

Oh and I’d really like to know what your views are on Janine’s family? In my head I always pictured Janine having this large Jewish with lots of aunts and uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews with Bar/Bat Mitzvah’s left and right (ok not that many but you get the idea). And that maybe Egon would just be thrown in the deep end when the first time he meets Janine’s parents is actually at one of her nephew’s Bat Mitzvah and he is meeting the rest of her family as well. I think that would result in a lot of dad jokes being told by many uncles and many aunts embarrassing them by just heavily pointing out the fact that Janine has “Finally found someone!” and that “It was about time!”; And little nieces and nephews asking them awkward questions such as “When are you going to make a baby?” and “You’re a Ghostbuster? Cool! My friends are never going to believe that my aunt is _doing it _with a Ghostbuster!” Even though he is only 13 and thinks “doing it” means touching a girl’s breast once. Oh man, think I just practically set myself up for a part two...

Oh and btw Microsoft office’s spell check makes me feel very insulted every time a red line appears underneath Egon’s name as if it’s not a real name. How rude!

Oh and lastly:

* I placed a “*” somewhere in this story, find it and you’ll win two tickets do Disneyland! No ok just kidding, but please look up the star to clear up this last bit. Should I write a one-shot about this particular moment? I was reading an article about people accidentally saying “I love you” before they’re ready, for instance during or after sex. But I think it’s nothing to be ashamed about, I think it’s rather adorable to think that those are the words that come out of your unconscious train of thought when you’re connected in the deepest and most literal sense of the word. But I guess that is different for everybody.

Anyway, thanks for reading! Xx


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